So, I’ve already bought my ticket for the 8pm show tonight. I’ve been following the reviews, and most have been good, if not great. Even a few fans who were convinced it couldn’t be good are starting to get excited. For me, this is really the only summer movie I’ve really been looking forward to, as I still can’t believe someone actually made it. I grew up watching Transformers, as I’m sure a lot of you guys did, and the thought if it becoming a live-action film never really crossed my mind. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Steven Spielberg is involved, as well as X-Men producer Tom DeSanto. But if there’s one name attached to the project that fans weren’t necessarily pleased with from day one, it was Michael Bay.

A regular collaborator of Jerry Bruckheimer, Bay has a reputation in film that most would consider dubious. Some would even argue that he’s what’s wrong with modern cinema. But in my mind, I couldn’t imagine anyone in the director’s chair for Transformers besides him (except maybe Spielberg himself). Bay’s an action director, and for what it’s worth, he’s good at what he does. People always want to fault his films for not having the best plots or character development, but in the realm of action movies, I’d say he’s done better than most. A film like Transformers needs Bay’s eye, his sense of scope and grandeur, and his flair. And in a film like this, where much of the action is vehicle-based, Bay’s exactly the guy you should want in your corner. As overblown as some of his films tend to be, you can at least count on a kick-ass freeway scene.

Still, a lot of fans have had issues with some of the changes being made. The big thing, of course, has been a majority of the character designs. Whereas the cartoon featured characters with some semblance of a face that was comparable to that of a human being, the movie designs favor more robotically-inspired looks, especially Bumblebee, who doesn’t even have a mouth. Beyond that, fans were none too pleased to discover that the character wouldn’t be a Volkswagen Beetle, but a Chevy Camaro. Couple that with the fact that the character doesn’t really speak, and you’ve got fans ready to hand Bay his hide. With ever new character being revealed, the fans grew more and more restless. They complained that the Transformers looked too “alien”, and not enough like their Generation One counterparts, especially when Megatron was revealed. But if there was one thing that really pissed off fans, it was Optimus Prime’s paint job. Not since the whole organic webshooters debate has there been such an outcry over what is ultimately a meaningless detail. I’m talking, of course, about the flames. Quite frankly, hearing people’s arguments regarding why the paint job would be such an insult to Prime’s character made me laugh. You also had people complaining about the focus on the humans, including Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox’s characters. Last time I checked, there were, like, 6.5 BILLION humans on the planet, and the movie revolves around these alien robots waging their war on said planet!

Usually, I’ll be the one to understand where fans are coming from when seemingly unnecessary changes are made to a property being translated to film. But this just isn’t one of those times. To hear how some people put Transformers on this pedestal of greatness, and try to pretend that the franchise is more than a means of selling toys, it’s baffling to me. “Transformers was meant to comment on the energy crisis of the 80s.” I’m sorry, but I was all of five years old when the show was on! Who really looks back on the cartoon and says “Gee, that was deep geo-political shit, right there!” I’m sure the franchise has had its moments of depth and gravitas, but at the end of the day, it’s about vehicles transforming into robots and fighting each other! That’s what kids have always liked about the concept, and that’s what they still like.

I’m not saying the movie has to be dumb, but I think a lot of fans are ignoring the context in which these characters need to be placed. As always, Hasbro’s in it to sell toys, and Chevy’s in it to sell cars, but judging what I’ve seen of the film so far, the changes made to fit this concept into live-action seem reasonable, and necessary. At the very least, I doubt the movie will rape my childhood. Hell, if the Master of the Universe movie didn’t, I can’t see how Michael Bay’s Transformers could!